The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the top judicial body of the United Nations recently issued a landmark ruling. More specifically, it is an advisory opinion entitled “Obligations of States in respect of climate change” that calls climate change an “urgent and existential threat” to the survival of the Planet.
This ruling has no decision-making or binding power, but it is intended to dictate international environmental policy guidelines. The Court, in effect, ruled that global warming poses an enormous danger, capable of compromising life, the ecosystem and, consequently, human well-being. According to the justices, living in a clean, sustainable and healthy environment is a fundamental human right, therefore, states must work legally, scientifically, ethically and politically to make this possible.
In practice, institutions must take all necessary measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and stop the expansion of fossil fuels, but not only that. The court said that failure to do so is an “internationally wrongful act,” and those responsible for it must “pay damages” to the countries most affected. These actions clearly require a clear causal link between a state’s action/omission and the damage done.
As can be read in the ruling, moreover, the increase in global warming is extremely dangerous, and even a rise of 1.5 °C is not considered safe for most nations, the upper limit imposed by the Paris Agreement. Indeed, compliance with climate treaties is no longer enough; stronger and more urgent action is needed.
This Court pronouncement comes on the heels of a symbolic day, Earth Overshoot Day, which this year falls on July 24. This day represents the moment when humanity’s demand for natural resources exceeds the Earth’s capacity to regenerate. This means that by 2025, between now and Dec. 31, we are using more resources than our Planet can provide. As the decades pass, we can see that the date of Earth Overshoot Day moves further and further back: if in the 1970s it fell in December, today it comes, precisely, toward the end of July. All the months between this day and the end of the year are in fact cumulative debt, resources that we have borrowed but are very unlikely ever to be able to repay.
To deplete the resources the Earth is capable of regenerating is to exacerbate the climate change already underway, desertification and the degradation of ecosystems. The pronouncement of the International Court of Justice must, therefore, serve as a warning to each of us and, above all, to institutions, which must take concrete measures to halt the progressive degradation that humanity is inflicting on the Planet.
